A year later, the effects of the June 2017 flooding are still being felt at the Midland County Historical Society.

"It was awful," Gary Skory, director of the historical society, said of the damage inflicted by the flooding, adding the water came within 10 feet of the covered drive thru at the Herbert D. Doan Midland County History Center.

"It was like a bad dream, but that bad dream was reality," he said. "We lost a great deal, but we saved a great deal."

The Tittabawassee River's flood stage is 24 feet, and the river reached a crest of 32.15 feet on Saturday, June 24, 2017.

To prepare, Skory and volunteer blacksmiths descended upon the Carriage House Hall and the blacksmith shop to heft all the metal to higher stations. That included tools, carriages, anvils and more.

Those areas ended up with 22 inches of water on the floors, but little loss.

"We were able to get in there with brooms and fans" after the water receded, Skory said of his teamwork with volunteer Floyd Andrick.

The flood left about 4 inches of water in the basement of the Herbert H. Dow Historical Museum and the 1874 Bradley Home, but caused very little loss.

Then there was the tough discovery that the society's off-site collections storage, tucked away at Midland Cogeneration Venture, did experience flooding.

"There are some things that will be lost," Skory said, adding other items got wet but could be saved.

Saving items meant moving them to yet another off-site location - in this case, space offered up by Alex Rapanos, who Skory called a hidden hero.

"It was open ended," Skory said of the use of the space. The site was used until about two months ago when the items that were dried, curated and repacked were moved to the basement at the Midland Center for the Arts. The efforts required all kinds of volunteers and time.

The next step in the process is to make the information accessible.

"We are looking for holes in our collection," Skory said, adding he was very pleased to find the photos, documents and letters that are stored at the Doan Center were not damaged. Also, the information on the collections that is electronically stored remains.

"It's a big game of Concentration," he said, referencing the old television game show.

"The complete refurbishing of our collections will take years," Skory said.

The damage has provided a chance for the staff, volunteers and community to come forward to help, which shows one of Midland's biggest strengths.

"One of the hallmarks of Midland is resiliency," Skory said. "And we're still moving forward."